1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power distribution systems, and, more particularly, to a technique for electrically interconnecting prewired movable wall panels and other modular furniture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modular wall panels have been used for a number of years to divide a relatively large open space into smaller cubicles or workspaces and have the advantage of being comparatively easily rearranged. Electrification of those wall panels was one of the early improvements. Many techniques for power or communications wiring in modular furniture are known. Wall panels and other modular components may have raceways for enclosing the wiring which may be installed on site as the panels are being assembled, or which may be factory installed to be later interconnected by panel-to-panel interconnects or jumpers. Commonly, the wiring receiving raceways are located along panel extremities, frequently along a lower panel edge. Wall panels typically include a pair of leveler legs, one near each end of the lower panel edge, for panel support. When panels which are prewired, for example by multiconductor cables disposed in an integral raceway also located near the lower panel edge, the interconnection between the panels must contend with the leveler legs. In the past, this has presented little problem. Modular office or work panel partition manufacturers are introducing new thin panel product lines, typically around only one inch thick. Thin panels do not make any provision for the routing of power and/or data cables from one panel to the next.
The Van Kuik et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,418 recognized that in hard wiring movable room divider panels, it was particularly difficult to run fairly large conduit, such as one-half inch diameter conduit through or around the vertical support posts and/or foot portions of freestanding partitions of the type having a supporting leg depending from the partition bottom edge at each end of the panel. The patentees proceed to solve this problem by replacing conventional conduit with a relatively flat split-body protective shell. This patent did not address prewired panels. The relationship between panel leveler legs and wiring has also been addressed in the Propst et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,630. This patent seeks to avoid the cost of prewired panels by providing a rigid power distribution system of interconnectable raceway units which mount beneath conventional wall panels. Each raceway section has a pair of semi-cylindrical upright openings 74 which are contoured to fit around threaded adjustment leg shafts spaced from one another by a distance equal to the leveler leg separation. Thus, the raceways are specifically designed to fit a particular panel configuration. This patent is not concerned with thin panels and does not employ panel-to-panel jumper technology.
As the modular furniture industry has gone to thinner and thinner room divider panels, the problem early recognized by Van Kuik et al has become more and more acute, particularly in prewired panel applications. Sacrificing height for thickness, as suggested by Van Kuik et al, or employing a rigid connection somewhat like that shown in Propst et al have not, to date, provided an adequate solution.
What is needed in the art is a panel-to-panel interconnection technique particularly suited to a thin panel environment and adapted to a variety of panel configurations.